Abstract
This study aimed to investigate how migrant students’ group permeability and parental involvement affect the relationship between perceived personal discrimination and social integration. A total of 755 migrant students at three schools in mainland China were investigated in the study. The results indicated that perceived personal discrimination negatively predicted migrant students’ group permeability, whereas group permeability had a positive effect on social integration. Group permeability partially mediated the relationship between perceived personal discrimination and social integration. In addition, parental involvement played a significant moderating role between perceived personal discrimination and group permeability and mitigated the negative effect of perceived personal discrimination on group permeability. These findings suggest that we could reduce migrant students’ perceived personal discrimination by improving their group permeability and parental involvement, thereby increasing their social integration.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) (2017) Global Programme framework on children on the move
International Organization for Migration (IOM) (2019) World migration report 2020
United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) (2021) Child migration. UNICEF. https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-migration-and-displacement/migration/. Accessed 1 May 2021
National Bureau of Statistics of China, UNICEF China, & UNFPA China (2017) Population status of children in China in 2015: facts and figures
Han J, Zhang Y, Liu Y (2020) Changes and new characteristics of the definition of migrant children and left-behind children. J Res Educat Ethnic Minor 31(06):81–88. https://doi.org/10.15946/j.cnki.1001-7178.2020.06.013 (in Chinese)
Chen X, Li D, Xu X, Liu J, Fu R, Cui L, Liu S (2019) School adjustment of children from rural migrant families in urban China. J Sch Psychol 72:14–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2018.12.003
Stein GL, Cavanaugh AM, Supple AJ, Kiang L, Gonzalez LM (2019) Typologies of discrimination: latinx youth’s experiences in an emerging immigrant community. Dev Psychol 55(4):846–854. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000638
Li C, Zhang X, Cheng X (2022) Perceived discrimination, integration, depression and behavioral problems among chinese migrant children: examining the moderating role of migration pattern in the rural-urban dual system. Health Soc Care Community. https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.13740
Lundkvist E, Wagnsson S, Davis L, Ivarsson A (2020) Integration of immigrant youth in Sweden: does sport participation really have an impact. Int J Adolesc Youth 25(1):891–906. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2020.1775099
Somé-Guiébré E (2020) Immigrant children’s construction of their identity the case of African children. Afr Educ Res J 8(1):41–45. https://doi.org/10.30918/AERJ.81.18.103
Liang Z, Yue Z, Li Y, Li Q, Zhou A (2020) Choices or constraints: education of migrant children in urban China. Popul Res Policy Rev 39(4):671–690. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-019-09564-9
Zhou B, Zhong Y (2022) Young floating population in city: how outsiderness influences self-esteem of rural-to-urban migrant children in China? Int J Environ Res Public Health 19(3):1863. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19031863
Evans M, Liu Y (2018) The unfamiliar and the indeterminate: Language, identity and social integration in the school experience of newly-arrived migrant children in England. J Lang Identity Educ 17(3):152–167. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2018.1433043
Kumi-Yeboah A, Brobbey G, Smith P (2020) Exploring factors that facilitate acculturation strategies and academic success of west African immigrant youth in urban schools. Educ Urban Soc 52(1):21–50. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013124519846279
Reynolds AD, Crea TM (2017) The integration of immigrant youth in schools and friendship networks. Popul Res Policy Rev 36(4):501–529. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-017-9434-4
Motti-Stefanidi F (2019) Resilience among immigrant youths: who adapts well, and why? Curr Dir Psychol Sci 28(5):510–517. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721419861412
Caqueo-Urízar A, Urzúa A, Escobar-Soler C, Flores J, Mena-Chamorro P, Villalonga-Olives E (2021) Effects of resilience and acculturation stress on integration and social competence of migrant children and adolescents in northern Chile. Int J Environ Res Public Health 18(4):2156. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18042156
Romero A, Piña-Watson B, Stevens AK, Schwartz SJ, Unger JB, Zamboanga BL, Szapocznik J, Lorenzo-Blanco E, Cano MÁ, Meca A, Baezconde-Garbanati L, Córdova D, Villamar JA, Soto DW, Lizzi KM, Des Rosiers SE, Pattarroyo M, Oshri A (2020) Disentangling relationships between bicultural stress and mental well-being among Latinx immigrant adolescents. J Consult Clin Psychol 88(2):149–159. https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000466
Wu Q, Ge T, Emond A, Foster K, Gatt JM, Hadfield K, Mason-Jones AJ, Reid S, Theron L, Ungar M, Wouldes TA (2018) Acculturation, resilience, and the mental health of migrant youth: a cross-country comparative study. Public Health 162:63–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2018.05.006
Zheng H, Yang M (2003) How the theory of social mutual-construction came into being: an examination about the academic tradition of sociology and a reflection on empirical reality during China’s accelerating social transformation. J Renmin Univ China 17(4):21–32 (in Chinese)
Zheng H, Yang M (2010) Theory of social mutual-construction: a new exploration of sociological theory with Chinese characteristics from global perspective. China Renmin University Press, Bei**g (in Chinese)
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2013) International migration outlook
Major B, Quinton WJ, Mccoy SK (2002) Antecedents and consequences of attributions to discrimination: theoretical and empirical advances. Adv Exp Soc Psychol 34:251–330. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(02)80007-7
Pascoe EA, Richman LS (2009) Perceived discrimination and health: a meta-analytic review. Psychol Bull 135(4):531–554. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016059
Basáñez T, Unger JB, Soto D, Crano W, Baezconde-Garbanati L (2013) Perceived discrimination as a risk factor for depressive symptoms and substance use among hispanic adolescents in Los Angeles. Ethn Health 18(3):244–261. https://doi.org/10.1080/13557858.2012.713093
Kazdin AE, Kraemer HC, Kessler RC, Kupfer DJ, Offord DR (1997) Contributions of risk-factor research to developmental psychopathology. Clin Psychol Rev 17(4):375–406. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-7358(97)00012-3
Branscombe NR, Schmitt MT, Harvey RD (1999) Perceiving pervasive discrimination among African Americans: implications for group identification and well-being. J Pers Soc Psychol 77(1):135–149. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.77.1.135
Mesch GS, Turjeman H, Fishman G (2008) Perceived discrimination and the well-being of immigrant adolescents. J Youth Adolesc 37(5):592–604. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-007-9210-6
Mesch GS (2002) Between spatial and social segregation among immigrants: the case of immigrants from the FSU in Israel. Int Migr Rev 36(3):912–934. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-7379.2002.tb00109.x
Buchanan ZE, Abu-Rayya HM, Kashima E, Paxton SJ, Sam DL (2018) Perceived discrimination, language proficiencies, and adaptation: Comparisons between refugee and non-refugee immigrant youth in Australia. Int J Intercult Relat 63:105–112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.i**trel.2017.10.006
Yang J, Liu X, Zhao F, Wang L, Liu X, Zhou H, Shi B (2019) The effects of perceived discrimination and city identity on the social adaptation of migrant children in public and private schools. Stress Health 35(3):341–349. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.2869
Elias N, Amzalag M, Kali Y (2019) Beforehand we didn’t talk at all: Contribution of online study groups to the social and academic integration of immigrant students. Res Educat Med 11(2):101–107. https://doi.org/10.2478/rem-2019-0025
Ng IFS, Chou KL, Wong WKF (2017) Perceived discrimination and integration among new arrivals from Mainland China: implications for higher education development for Hong Kong. In: Mok K (ed) Managing international connectivity, diversity of learning and changing labour markets. Springer, Singapore, pp 187–198
Yang L, Wu Q (2021) Group differences in the psychological integration path of the rural-to-urban migrants: a conditional process analysis. Int J Environ Res Public Health 18(21):11463. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182111463
Tajfel H (1978) Differentiation between social groups. Academic Press, Salt Lake City
Armenta BM, Stroebe K, Scheibe S, Van Yperen NW, Stegeman A, Postmes T (2017) Permeability of group boundaries: development of the concept and a scale. Pers Soc Psychol Bull 43(3):418–433. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167216688202
Ellemers N, Van Knippenberg A, Wilke H (1990) The influence of permeability of group boundaries and stability of group status on strategies of individual mobility and social change. Br J Soc Psychol 29(3):233–246. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8309.1990.tb00902.x
Dirth TP, Branscombe NR (2019) Recognizing ableism: a social identity analysis of disabled people perceiving discrimination as illegitimate. J Soc Issues 75(3):786–813. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12345
Skrobanek J (2009) Perceived discrimination, ethnic identity and the (re-) ethnicisation of youth with a Turkish ethnic background in Germany. J Ethn Migr Stud 35(4):535–554. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691830902765020
Johnson D, Terry DJ, Louis WR (2005) Perceptions of the intergroup structure and anti-Asian prejudice among white Australians. Group Process Intergroup Relat 8(1):53–71. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430205048616
Ramos MR, Cassidy C, Reicher S, Haslam SA (2016) A longitudinal study of the effects of discrimination on the acculturation strategies of international students. J Cross Cult Psychol 47(3):401–420. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022116628672
Shi Y, Dang J, Zheng W, Liu L (2017) Dual identity and prejudice: the moderating role of group boundary permeability. Front Psychol 8:195–195. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00195
Wright SC, Taylor DM, Moghaddam FM (1990) Responding to membership in a disadvantaged group: from acceptance to collective protest. J Pers Soc Psychol 58(6):994–1003. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.58.6.994
Zhang X, Zheng J, Liu L, Zhao X, Sun X (2014) The effect of group boundary permeability on intergroup prejudice: the case of rural-to-urban migrants in China. J Pac Rim Psychol 8(2):53–61. https://doi.org/10.1017/prp.2014.7
Mähönen TA, Jasinskaja-Lahti I (2012) Anticipated and perceived intergroup relations as predictors of immigrants’ identification patterns: a follow-up study. Eur Psychol 17(2):120–130. https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000114
Di Bernardo GA, Vezzali L, Stathi S, McKeown S, Cocco VM, Saguy T, Dixon J (2021) Fostering social change among advantaged and disadvantaged group members: integrating intergroup contact and social identity perspectives on collective action. Group Process Intergroup Relat 24(1):26–47. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430219889134
Tausch N, Saguy T, Bryson J (2015) How does intergroup contact affect social change? its impact on collective action and individual mobility intentions among members of a disadvantaged group. J Soc Issues 71(3):536–553. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12127
Garmezy N (1987) Stress, competence, and development: Continuities in the study of schizophrenic adults, children vulnerable to psychopathology, and the search for stress-resistant children. Am J Orthopsychiatry 57(2):159–174. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-0025.1987.tb03526.x
Fan X, Chen M (2001) Parental involvement and students’ academic achievement: a meta-analysis. Educ Psychol Rev 13(1):1–22. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009048817385
Jeynes WH (2007) The relationship between parental involvement and urban secondary school student academic achievement: a meta-analysis. Urban Educat 42(1):82–110. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085906293818
Goodall J, Ghent K (2014) Parental belief and parental engagement in children’s learning. Br J Relig Educ 36(3):332–352. https://doi.org/10.1080/01416200.2013.820168
Masten AS, Garmezy N (1985) Risk, vulnerability, and protective factors in developmental psychopathology. In: Lahey BB, Kazdin AE (eds) Advances in clinical child psychology, vol 8. Plenum Press, New York, pp 1–52
Rutter M (1987) Psychosocial resilience and protective mechanisms. Am J Orthopsychiatry 57(3):316–331. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-0025.1987.tb03541.x
Ni SG, Li H (2014) The effect of co** and social support on the relationship between perceived discrimination and identity integration among Chinese migrant children. Psychol Dev Educat 30(01):1–38. https://doi.org/10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2014.01.006 (in Chinese)
Derlan CL, Umaña-Taylor AJ, Toomey RB, Updegraff KA, Jahromi LB, Flores LI (2014) Perceived discrimination and ethnic affirmation: anglo culture orientation as a moderator among Mexican-origin adolescent mothers. Child Dev 85(4):1357–1365. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12191
Delgado MY, Updegraff KA, Roosa MW, Umaña-Taylor AJ (2009) Discrimination and mexican-origin adolescents’ adjustment: the moderating roles of adolescents’, mothers’, and fathers’ cultural orientations and values. J Youth Adolesc 40(2):125–139. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-009-9467-z
Wu Q, Tsang B, Ming H (2014) Social capital, family support, resilience and educational outcomes of Chinese migrant children. Br J Soc Work 44(3):636–656. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcs139
Sabatier C, Berry JW (2008) The role of family acculturation, parental style, and perceived discrimination in the adaptation of second-generation immigrant youth in France and Canada. Eur J Dev Psychol 5(2):159–185. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405620701608739
Hu B, Wu W (2020) Parental support in education and social integration of migrant children in urban public schools in China. Cities 106:102870. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2020.102870
Jasinskaja-Lahti I, Liebkind K (2001) Perceived discrimination and psychological adjustment among Russian-speaking immigrant adolescents in Finland. Int J Psychol 36(3):174–185. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207590042000074
Leidy MS, Guerra NG, Toro RI (2010) Positive parenting, family cohesion, and child social competence among immigrant Latino families. J Fam Psychol 24(3):252–260. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019407
Liu X, Shen J (2010) Chines migrant children’s perceived discrimination its relation to self-esteem. J Psychol Sci 33(3):695–697. https://doi.org/10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.2010.03.044 (in Chinese)
Hao Z, Cui L (2015) The role of intergroup permeability on Chinese migrant children’s social integration. Soc Behav Pers 43(2):303–314. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2015.43.2.303
Mummendey A, Klink A, Mielke R, Wenzel M, Blanz M (1999) Socio-structural characteristics of intergroup relations and identity management strategies: results from a field study in East Germany. Eur J Soc Psychol 29:259–285
Swann WB, Gómez Á, Seyle DC, Morales JF, Huici C (2009) Identity fusion: the interplay of personal and social identities in extreme group behavior. J Pers Soc Psychol 96(5):995–1011. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013668
Mael FA, Ashforth BE (1992) Alumni and their alma mater: a partial test of the reformulated model of organizational identification. J Organ Behav 13(2):103–123. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.4030130202
Liang W, Ye X, Li T (2018) How does parental involvement affect the cognitive ability of migrant children an empirical study on CEPS database. J Educ Stud 14(01):80–94. https://doi.org/10.14082/j.cnki.1673-1298.2018.01.011
Cheung GW, Lau RS (2008) Testing mediation and suppression effects of latent variables: bootstrap** with structural equation models. Organ Res Methods 11(2):296–325. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428107300343
Hu L, Bentler PM (1999) Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Struct Equ Model 6(1):1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118
Podsakoff PM, MacKenzie SB, Lee J, Podsakoff NP (2003) Common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. J Appl Psychol 88(5):879–903. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.5.879
Aguirre-Urreta MI, Hu J (2019) Detecting common method bias: performance of the Harman’s single-factor test. ACM SIGMIS Database 50(2):45–70. https://doi.org/10.1145/3330472.3330477
Berry JW, Sabatier C (2010) Acculturation, discrimination, and adaptation among second generation immigrant youth in montreal and Paris. Int J Intercult Relat 34(3):191–207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.i**trel.2009.11.007
Jones S, Rutland A (2018) Attitudes toward immigrants among the youth: contact interventions to reduce prejudice in the school context. Eur Psychol 23(1):83–92. https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000310
Saasa SK (2019) Discrimination, co**, and social exclusion among African immigrants in the United States: a moderation analysis. Social Work (New York) 64(3):198–206. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/swz018
Choi DD, Poertner M, Sambanisa N (2019) Parochialism, social norms, and discrimination against immigrants. Proc Natl Acad Sci 116(33):16274–16279. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1820146116
Lang K, Spitzer AK (2020) How discrimination and bias shape outcomes. Fut Child 30(1):165–186. https://doi.org/10.1353/foc.2020.0007
Lajevardi N, Oskooii KAR, Walker HL, Westfall AL (2020) The paradox between integration and perceived discrimination among American Muslims. Polit Psychol 41(3):587–606. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12640
Velasquez A, Montgomery G (2020) Social media expression as a collective strategy how perceptions of discrimination and group status shape US Latinos’ online discussions of immigration. Soc Media Soc 6(1):1–14. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305120914009
Lalonde RN, Silverman RA (1994) Behavioral preferences in response to social injustice: the effects of group permeability and social identity salience. J Pers Soc Psychol 66(1):78–85. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.66.1.78
Thai M, Barlow FK, Hornsey MJ (2014) (Deviant) friends with benefits: the impact of group boundary permeability on minority group members’ responses to ethnic deviance. Soc Psychol Pers Sci 5(3):360–368. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550613499939
Zabern A, Bouteyre E (2018) Leading protective factors for children living out of home: a literature review. Child Fam Soc Work 23(2):324–335. https://doi.org/10.1111/cfs.12398
Cureton AE (2020) Strangers in the school: facilitators and barriers regarding refugee parental involvement. Urban Rev 52(5):924–949. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-020-00580-0
Fenton P, Ocasio-Stoutenburg L, Harry B (2017) The power of parent engagement: sociocultural considerations in the quest for equity. Theory Pract 56(3):214–225. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2017.1355686
Sohn S, Wang XC (2006) Immigrant parents’ involvement in American schools: perspectives from Korean mothers. Early Child Educ J 34(2):125–132. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-006-0070-6
Funding
This study was supported by National Planning Office of Philosophy and Social Science (Grant Number 19BSH048)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Wang, S., Lin, C. The Impact of Perceived Personal Discrimination on Migrant Students’ Social Integration: The Mediating Effect of Group Permeability and Moderating Effect of Parental Involvement. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 55, 802–811 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-022-01430-8
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-022-01430-8